how to plant edelweiss

we have grown edelweiss from seed and they now ready to plant out. can they be planted in a medium sized stone trough (similar to herb garden) or do they have to be in a rockery. what is the best type of soil to use.

23 Aug, 2008

Answers

Small and white clean and bright oh sorry ..ahemmmm hello Sally
This little fellow will look good where ever you want to plant him...if it can survive austrian winters Brrrrrrrrrrr it should be fine in our climate.
Hope this helps
Best wishes
Kev

I'm just starting to realise how much I'm learning because of this site! The references I've checked suggest 'rocky' and 'limestone' which sound reasonable for a mountain plant, so 'well-drained' seems necessary - and alkaline? The grit sounds a good idea for both the reasons given! Apparently, said fellow is protected in quite a few countries so your seedlings are doing their bit for continuing biodiversity! Do let us see some pictures when they've got themselves going.

Funny thing about it, it is not actually high montane, it is a plant of alpine meadows which strays up into the high places. People get killed trying to collect it from rocky paks when you can find it quite low down (in Alpine terms).
It has survived in my garden for the last 12 years with no looking after, in neutral soil which is very well drained.
Biggest mistake folks make with alpines is thinking well drained means they do not need water, they do. Many of the alpine meadow plants actually grow in very wet conditions, BUT where the water is flowiing past their roots.